A Silver Lining
by Lucy in the Sky with Dimonds
Summary: When new mutant Sophie arrives at the Institute, she meets new friends and learns about her powers. But, will she be able to adjust quick enough, or will this new world come crashing down on her?
1. Meet Sophie

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or any of the characters seen here other than Sophie

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><p>Charles Xavier looked up at Cerebro's screen.<p>

_Name: Sophie Elizabeth Collins_

_Age: 16_

_Gender: Female_

_Location: Haverhill Massachusetts_

As he took Cerebro off of his head, the Professor placed his fingers on his temples and sent out a telepathic message:

'_Scott, Logan, Meet me outside. We're going to pick up a new mutant.'_

**Suburb In Boston Massachusetts 2:36pm**

The Professor, Scott, and Logan stepped onto the front porch of a two story home in a small neighborhood. Logan rang the doorbell and a couple in their early forties answered the door a few moments later. The woman looked surprised, as though she just saw a ghost. The man smiled.

"Hello." Charles said in a polite, friendly tone. "My name is Charles Xavier. I'm here from the Xavier Institute, to talk to you about Sophie."

The couple looked at each other, then turned back and the man said. "Come in."

When the trio stepped inside, Scott looked around. The home was beautifully furnished in a simple, elegant way. But what really caught his attention were the paintings. They displayed beautiful, pastel colored flowers ranging from bluebonnets to cherry blossoms. There were at least two in each room and looked as though painted by a professional.

"Sophie's upstairs in her bedroom." The man said, shutting the front door behind them. "One of you may go speak to her if you wish."

"Scott, why don't you go find her while Logan and I speak to her parents about the situation." Charles said politely.

Scott nodded and walked upstairs. His stomach let out a growl. 'If only Professor let me eat before we left.' As he entered the door labeled 'Sophie's Room', Scott looked around. The room was fairly small and covered with more beautiful paintings. The walls were a light rose and covered with more artwork.

The girl wasn't in there. As he stepped inside he noticed something out the window. He walked towards it to see what it was. The bright sun glared into his eyes. Then he saw her.

Perched outside the window on the gray porch roof was a girl staring at the sky. Her short, chestnut hair hung in elegant curls to her shoulders. She was wearing a white spaghetti strapped shirt and jean shorts. She wore no shoes.

Stepping out onto the roof, Scott sat down next to her. He looked at her. Her bright emerald green eyes bore into his and she smiled. They both looked at the sky. It was a bright, sunny day with snow white clouds gleaming from the sky.

"What are you looking at?" he asked kindly.

"The clouds, they're so beautiful." She said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Really?" Scott asked,adjusting his sunglasses, "They all look the same to me."

"They may appear that way. However, each one has something special about them. Something that makes it unique. A silver lining." She said.

There was a short silence, as Scott processed the depth of her words, and then his stomach growled again. He frowned and the girl gave a high pitched giggle.

"Hungry?" She asked with a slight smirk.

"A bit." He replied.

"Here" She said. The girl reached over the side of the roof, palm facing the ground as if to pick something up. Suddenly, a tree sprouted out of the ground directly below her hand. It grew rapidly,as branches sprouted from a trunk, and in a moment's notice its branches were high above their heads, sporting shiny red apples. She reached up into the luscious green leaves, and picked one, then held it out to him.

Scott took the apple and took a bit. It was ripe, juicy, and unbelievably fresh. Soon it was gone, along with his hunger.

"Thank you." he said 'So this must be the new mutant' he thought.

"No problem. Now tell me…" she said, turning towards him, sitting Indian style, her tanned face glowing in the sunlight "Who are you?"

"My name's Scott, nice to meet you."

"Well Scott, are you here with the guys who own the extremely illegally parked jet plane parked over there?" she asked, motioning towards the black X-Jet sitting in the middle of the street.

"Well. ...Yeah." He said with a laugh. "We actually came here to ask you something."

"Like what?" She asked, reaching up and picking another apple off of the tree overhead.

"I go to a school where us mutants learn how to control our special abilities. We wanted to know if you wanted to join." He asked.

"What can you do?" She asked, interested, and playing absentmindedly with the apple in her hands.

"Nothing special, just shooting lasers from my eyes." He said with a smirk.

They both laughed

"Well Scott," She said standing up. " If you can hit this apple with your lasers, I'll join you at your school."

"Alright then." He said, standing up.

"Ready? One …Two…THREE!" she yelled, throwing the apple an impressively long distance. Scott quickly took off his sunglasses,and opened his eyes. The bright red blast hit the apple as it soured over a nearby fence. The apple busted apart, large chunks raining down on the two of them.

She put down the arm she used to block the falling apple pieces and turned to Scott.

"Welcome to the Xavier Institute, Sophie."


	2. Arrival

**Hey Everyone! I wrote pretty much all of this story already so I'm going to update frequently. Hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

**Unfortunately I still don't own X-Men Evolution or Marvel.**

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><p>I pulled my silver Kia Optima into the large parking lot and ran my fingers through my chestnut brown hair. I looked out the tinted window. The mansion was huge and I've seen some pretty big houses in Mass.<p>

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself down._ 'These people will accept me for my abilities.'_ I thought to myself. I shuddered at the brief flashback of my old school and how they treated me when they found out about my powers. I was a bit shy about meeting new people after that experience. I opened my eyes and looked outside.

Scott came walking out, followed by seven other people. I took it that that was my signal to get out of the car.

I got out of my Optima, which I'd been saving up for to get for two years, and opened the trunk. By the time I got all three of my lavender bags out, everyone had made it down to my car.

"Here, zet me help you with zhose.", said a boy with short bluish hair and a German accent.

"Thanks." I handed him one of my bags, but as my hand touched his, I felt something. _'Was that…fur?'_

"What's your name dear?" an African American woman with white hair asked.

"Uhh... Sophie. Sophie Collins." I replied nervously.

"Nice to see you again, Sophie." Scott said. Then he gave me a comforting smile. He must have seen that I was nervous.

I smiled at him. Other than the Professor and Logan (the Professor was nice, but Logan kind of intimidated me) Scott was the only one that I knew here.

"Kitty, why don't you go show Sophie her room." said the Professor, who just came out.

A girl nodded and advanced towards me. Her medium length brown hair was tied away from her face, exposing her hazel eyes beaming at me as though she was looking right through me.

When she spoke, she sounded rather excited."Hi! My name's Kitty. Why don't I, like, show you your room." she said with a strong valley girl accent.

"Alright." I said with a glance towards Scott. He smiled and the blue haired kid handed Kitty my bag.

"Let's go." she said, grabbing my wrist. She took off running, pulling me along aside her. I looked up and realized that we were heading straight for a solid wall on the side of the house.

"Wait, how are we going to…?" I started, but stopped talking once the wall was a foot in front of us. I shut my eyes, and waited for impact.

A few moments later, and I still didn't feel anything. I opened my eyes to find myself in an extremely large bedroom with a closet, dresser, my own bathroom, and a huge bed. I stared in disbelief at what was now then I remembered:

"Wait Kitty, there was no door. How did you get us in here?"

"I can, like, phase through walls and stuff." she said smiling. "What's your ability?"

"I'll show you after I get unpacked." I told her.

_Two bags of clothes and a bag of shoes later._

"Hey, whose artwork is this?" asked Kitty, holding up a few of my paintings and sketches.

"Mine." I said, hanging up my oil painting of purple hydrangeas above my wooden headboard.

"You did these? Oh my gosh, these are amazing!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks. We're almost done." I said, turning my attention to the two white Romanesque columns in the center of the room. They looked so… dull. Suddenly I got an idea.

"Kitty."

"Yeah?" she asked, still looking at my paintings.

"Do you still want to see what my power is?" I asked, opening the window.

She placed the paintings on my bed and replied, "Definitely."

I positioned myself between the window and the columns and outstretched my arms, looking for a connection between the myself and the Earth. A vine, growing and gaining length, climbed in through my window and started coiling around the columns, budding and flowering as the vine grew higher. I put my arms down and exhaled. The vine stopped growing. Kitty was standing there with her mouth on the floor, speechless.

I walked over to the flowered column and cut the vine. The connection between me and it was lost. I knew the vine wouldn't die, because it would just attach itself to the columns and start supporting itself from the column itself. I didn't notice the Professor come in.

"Hello Soph…Oh my!" he said as he came in, admiring my work.

"Is this okay Professor?" I asked.

"It's perfectly fine. I was wondering if you would come speak to me in my office in about ten minutes."

"Alright." I replied as Kitty seemed to snap out of her trance, and looked down at her watch.

"Oh! Sophie, I have to go meet Lan-somebody okay?"

"Okay. See you later." I replied as she and Professor X left my room.

I sighed and looked at myself in the mirror. I pulled my chestnut curls back into a ponytail, exposing my pierced ear lobes and helix. My green spaghetti strap shirt layered over my white spaghetti strap shirt looked okay with my light faded jeans and my favorite beige moccasins. I touched my hand to the brown beaded necklace my Aunt Scarlet had given me. This one piece of jewelry always made me think of her. I always wore it, and when I looked at chocolate brown beads, they reminded me that everything was going to be okay.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: Sophie will meet the other X-Men and you might just learn a bit more about her.<strong>


	3. Navigation

**A shorter chapter. Not sure if I'm making these chapters long enough. Don't own any thing. Anyway, on with the story.**

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><p>As I exited my room (thankfully through the door this time) I found out that I had no idea where the professor's office was. I looked left and right down the long, narrow halls. 'Great.' I thought, and then I saw an African American boy with blond hair walking down the hall to my right. He didn't look like he was in a hurry so I decided to ask him.<p>

"Hey!" I shouted. I got his attention and he stopped. "Wait up." I ran towards him.

"What's up? Sophie right?" he asked, kindly.

"Yeah. Who are you?" I asked.

"Evan. Nice to meet you, Soph." he said with a smile. "So what do ya need?"

"Do you know where Professor Xavier's office is?"

'_Stupid!'_ I thought to myself, '_He lives here. Of course he knows where it is._'

"I could show you if you want." Evan offered.

"Sure!" I said relieved.

We started walking through the halls together. After a few moments, Evan cleared his throat.

"So, what kind of things do you like to do, Soph?" Evan asked.

"Oh. Um… Well I like to paint, sketch, and I do a little swimming."

"That's cool. How long have you been swimming?"

"Not long, just a few months. What do you do?" I asked, trying to push the conversation topic away from me.

"I play basketball and skateboard. You ever done either?" He asked as we turned a corner.

_Darn_. "Well I've played a bit of basketball at my old school, but I'm not great."

At Jefferson High, gym was a total joke. Normally we just stood in line to kick a soccer ball or something like that. When I was 10, I did join a basketball team for a few years, but dropped it when painting classes became available.

He smiled. "Well maybe we could play sometime. Grab the rest of the guys for a game?"

"That could be fun." I replied.

We stopped and Evan pointed down the hallway to a set of Mahogany double doors.

"The professor's office is right in there."

"Thanks Evan. I'll see you around." I said walking towards the doors.

"No problem. Later." He said with a slight wave, walking away.

I turned to the doors and exhaled. So far, I've met, Scott, Kitty, and Evan. I've only spoken to Professor Xavier and Logan briefly (the Professor seemed cool and Logan… well he's okay. Scares me, but okay), but everyone else was a mystery. So far everyone seemed nice.

I open one of the double doors and stepped inside the large office. Sitting behind a grand desk was Professor X. He smiled at me and motioned me to the chair in front of him. I walked over and sat down.

"Good evening Sophie, I trust your doing well."

I nodded, "So far everyone's been great. It's still a lot to take in though."

"I understand. Who have you met so far?" Professor X asked.

"Other than you, Logan and Scott, I've met Kitty and Evan. The boy with the bluish hair who took my bags this morning seemed nice, I guess."

He nodded. "You will meet the rest of the team during dinner in a few minutes. There will also be a small danger room session after words."

"What?" I asked , suddenly nervous.

"Nothing to serious. Just to assess how well you work with the team and how well you know how to use your powers." He said authoritatively.

I nodded, still worried. I just got here and I was already being asked to fight? These guys don't ask for much do they?

"One more thing to think about," he added, "Each member of the team is asked to come up with a codename to use during battles and such. Do you have any ideas on what yours will be?"

I thought for a moment. Suddenly it came to me.

"How about Ivy?"

He smiled and stretched out his hand.

"Welcome to the team Ivy."

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><p><strong>Reviews highly appreciated. I want to know if anyone's OOC or if the character is a Mary- Sue. Personally, I think it's a bit early to tell (I hate Mary-Sues), but I want to know if this story could be better.<strong>


	4. Sophie Meets the XMen

**I want to thank CanidSerpent for the advice. Long weekend so I'm planning on updating the next couple chapters over the next few days. You guys know I don't own this by now, right? Good, then we can begin.**

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><p>I shook his hand and smiled.<p>

"Everyone must be gathered in the kitchen now for dinner. You should join them." The Professor said.

"Alright, um… Where's that again?" I said, remembering to ask this time. I swear I'm gonna need to draw a map of this place.

"Go outside the door, take a left and go down the stairs." He said politely.

I thanked him and exited. Following his instructions I turned left. With each step I took I grew increasingly nervous. 'What if they don't like me?' I thought.

I made my way down the stairs and found myself in the doorway of a large kitchen/dining area. I was surrounded by various faces, both new and old. The African American woman with the white hair was in the kitchen area, most likely preparing dinner. She was busy, and didn't notice me come in. I recognized Kitty, Evan, Scott, and Logan almost instantly. Logan was leaning against a gray marble counter drinking coffee. Scott, Evan, and the guy with the bluish hair were sitting at the kitchen table talking. He noticed me come in and smiled. Wait a minute, were those….fangs?

Kitty was standing in a small circle with two other girls near the other doorway. One had reddish brown hair with a white streak in the front. She was wearing dark clothes and makeup. To most she would be presumed a Goth, but I don't know her yet so I won't judge. The other girl was the complete opposite. She had bright red hair, green eyes, and was very tall. She must have noticed me come in too, because she turned around and gave me a friendly smile.

Everyone must have seen me standing in the doorway at that point, because I found myself with six pairs of eyes staring at me. I smiled slightly and gave a small wave. The redheaded girl walked towards me and held out her hand.

"Hi, you must be Sophie. Come in." she said, politely.

I walked in. The woman in the kitchen turned around, placing a tray of hot dogs and a bowl of salad on the counter. Everyone hurried to the counter to get their food (The boys practically sprinted), and joined at the table to eat. Only Logan remained standing. Logan hadn't moved since the food was put out, he just continued to lean against the counter, sipping his coffee. Once I got a plate full of salad, I joined the rest of the team at the kitchen table.

Evan swallowed his mouthful of hot dog, took one look at my plate and asked, "What's with all of the rabbit food?"

"I'm a vegetarian Evan, I don't eat meat." I replied, putting a forkful of lettuce in my mouth.

As Evan turned back to his plate, Jean cleared her throat.

"Maybe we should all introduce ourselves." she said. "Scott, why don't you start?"

"Well, that isn't completely necessary, but okay." He said, chuckling slightly. "My name is Scott Summers. My power is that I can produce optic blasts from my eyes that are absorbed by these ruby-quartz sunglasses, so I don't blow up everything that I look at. My codename is Cyclops"

Kitty put down her hot dog and spoke, "My name is Katherine Pryde, but call me Kitty. I can, like, phase through matter. My code-name's Shadowcat"

"Name's Evan Daniels or Spyke. And I can...Well." Suddenly a bone like jagged spike shot out of his hand. I was taken a back, and nodded slowly.

The girl with the white streak in her hair was next. She gave me a small smirk and said with a deep southern drawl, "Ma name is Rouge, just Rouge. I can absorb a person's memories and abilities with the touch of ma bare skin." She held up her gloved hand.

The redhead spoke next, "My name is Jean Grey. I have the abilities of telepathy and telekinesis."

The guy with blue hair stood up. With a puff of smoke, he appeared six feet from where he was standing a moment before. "My name is Kurt. My codename zis Nightcrawler, and you zude probably know that zis isn't my real appearance." He touched his watch and in the blink of an eye, he appeared before me with blue fur covering his entire body, golden eyes, and a tail. I chose the wrong moment to take a sip of my water, because at that moment, I started choking, and everyone started to laugh. Kurt chuckled, turned back into his human disguise, and sat back down.

I blushed, and quickly apologized to Kurt for my reaction. He looked up and replied, "Iz okay. It doez come az a surprise to most people."

Everyone at the table turned our attention to Logan. He grunted, and suddenly, three steel blades extracted from his hands. My eyes widened. "Call me Wolverine." He stated, retracting his claws and turning back to his coffee.

The African American woman stood up, picking up the empty hot dog platter and said "My name's Ororo, but you may call me Storm. I can harness and manipulate the forces of nature."

"So Sophie," Jean said, stacking the empty plates, "What's your ability?"

"Oh. Well, I can control plants."

"You guys should see this girl's artwork. It's awesome." Kitty said.

"When did you learn to paint?" Rogue asked me, dabbing her lips with a napkin.

"My aunt was an artist and taught me everything I know."

"Was?" Evan asked.

I swallowed the lump that appeared in my throat. "She passed away when I was 13."

An awkward silence fogged the air. Scott changed the subject.

"So, if you can control plants, you must know a lot about Botany."

I nodded. "Biology is my best subject. I keep a ninety-nine in that class. But, I'm not so good at history."

"You'll love Bayville High. Ve start on Monday." Kurt said.

Jean smiled at me and said, "We might even be in the same science class."

Logan's watch beeped. He put down his coffee and with a grunt, announced that it was time for the danger room. As everyone filed out, I bit my lip. This was gonna end badly.

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><p><strong>How's this going to turn out? Update tomorrow.<br>**


	5. Danger In The Danger Room

**This is the shortest chapter so far. I hope you like it.**

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><p>I looked at myself in the mirror. My curled chestnut locks hung to my slouched shoulders. I was wearing the X-Men battle suit Storm had given me. It consisted of a tight black long sleeve top that cut off just above my pierced belly button. The top had two green Xs printed on the shoulders. I pulled at the black spandex pants that cut off just below my knees. At least my black combat boots were comfy.<p>

I heard a knock on the door. I stepped outside the bathroom and trailed behind the others into a very large room covered in white panels. I spotted the observation room just above us. I heard the professor on the PA:

"Ivy, this room will use automatic defensive technology to challenge your abilities with various attacks. If anything goes wrong, we will shut down the simulation. Are you ready?" ,I nodded, "Let us begin."

The room jumped to life. Panels were replaced by mechanical arms, and lasers deployed out of the walls. The others sprang into action, using their powers to dodge mechanical arms and destroy threatening obstacles.

I shut my eyes, using all of my concentration to find a source of life. That connection to the Earth was the source of my powers. Soil, that was my goal, what I was trying to find. What I _couldn't_ find.

My eyes snapped open as the realization hit me. This room was made of completely synthetic material. Located smack in the middle of the Institute, this room made it impossible to use my powers.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my back, and was then propelled ten feet forward. I landed on my stomach. Then, I felt something grab around my waist, something hard and metallic. I opened my eyes and found myself dangling upside-down in a mechanical arm's grasp. I screamed and thrashed as it pulled me higher and higher and…let go. I was falling. Ten feet, twenty feet; the ground grew nearer and nearer. I shut my eyes. As I hit the ground I felt a strong pain shoot through my leg. I wriggled out of the broken arm and tried to crawl. The panels on the floor to my left and right rose vertically and began to close in on me. I was about to be crushed.

The panels stopped moving. Everything else did too. Cyclops ran around the vertical panels and helped me up. I had failed the simulation. It was over. At that moment, I didn't care about the pain rushing through my leg, or the fact that Scott was standing right there. As tears shed from my eyes, I ran; from him, from everyone, through the automatic doors, into the hallway, and into the supply closet. There I broke down and cried.

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><p><strong>I'm going to give you a piece of information about Sophie. She has an EXTREME fear of heights. That's why she started thrashing when the claw started to lift her so high. I want to thank the hundred or so of you that viewed this story. Reviews highly appreciated.<br>**


	6. Hope

**Kay. I know some of you have been waiting so let's start...**

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><p>As I wiped my tear soaked face, I saw some light peer in through an expanding crack coming through the door. Scott walked in and sat down next to me.<p>

"What happened out there? I looked over and you were trapped in a mechanical arm. I shot the arm down to free you but you landed pretty hard. Are you okay?" he asked, voice filled with concern.

"I can't do it Scott. I just can't." I cried.

"Slow down. Tell me what happened."

I wiped the tears from my eyes and started, "Well, I tried to fight I really did! But my powers wouldn't work so…"

"Wait a minute. You're powers wouldn't work?" He asked.

I shook my head, tears coming again. "Everything was man made. I couldn't make anything grow."

"But Kitty told me about what you did to the column in your room..."

I shook my head, tears falling more heavily now, "That's different. I can make plants be supported off of synthetic things but I can't make them grow on them. I can't be an X-Man. Oh, why did I have to get these stupid powers?" I said, burying my face in my hands.

Scott grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. I looked up.

"Sophie, ever since I met you two weeks ago, I knew you had what it took. You were special. You're funny, kind, and can paint better than anyone I know. These powers are just another thing that makes you different. It's like what you said to me the first day we met. "Each cloud has something special that makes it unique." Sophie, these powers are your silver lining, just another thing that makes you who you are."

I smiled at him. Scott was like a brother to me. After that day we met, we talked almost every day. I struggled adjusting to my new ability and he helped me through it. Without his support, I wouldn't even be here.

I stood up, wiped the tears from my face, and looked at him. "Maybe I'll give this thing another shot."

He gave me an encouraging smile back, stood up, and said to me, "I know you can do it."

We stepped outside. Kurt, Kitty, Evan, Jean, Rogue, Storm, and Professor Xavier were standing in the hallway, waiting for me. As soon as I stepped out, the professor said,

"I must apologize Sophie. I should have realized earlier that your ability only works in a natural environment. We'll keep that in mind next…"

"Oh ma gawsh! What happened to yer leg?" Rogue interrupted.

I looked down at my leg. Sure enough, the fall I had taken left my knee bruised and bleeding pretty badly. My pants leg was soaked with blood. I took a step on it and winced.

Storm quickly grabbed a first aid kit from the wall and a chair from the corner. I took a seat and she rolled up my pants leg, revealing my badly injured knee. As she began patching up my leg, Evan told me that we may need to reschedule our basketball match due to my sudden casualty. I informed him that I would have been considered handicapped anyway due to my lack of hand-eye coordination. Everyone laughed.

After Storm finish bandaging my leg, she told me to take it easy for a while. I was very lucky that I hadn't broken my leg after that fall. I nodded, a loud yawn escaping from my lips. Today had really taken a lot out of me, both physically and emotionally. Kurt offered to teleport me to my room and I accepted gladly, too tired and in pain to find my way there myself. He grabbed a hold of my arm and before we left, the Professor informed me that I was going to do a small outdoor training session tomorrow. With a nod and a quick "Goodnight.", Kurt and I were gone.

After Kurt left me in my room, I quickly changed into a light blue spaghetti strap shirt and gray sweatpants before crawling into bed. Before falling asleep, I laid there, staring at the ceiling. For the first time since I got here, I felt like I belonged.

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><p><strong>I want to thank all of you who read and reviewed this. It's not over yet! I need to know your honest opinions here, so answer this question: <strong>

**"Should Sophie and Scott get together in this story?" This has been troubling me because I normally like to stick with the original pairings of the series, but the chemistry those two share is just surreal. I want to know what you guys think.**


	7. Sunrise

**Finally! I've finished this week and found time today to update. So excited.  
><strong>

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><p>I looked at my watch. It was around seven am and I was in the east wing hallway, sitting on a wide window sill, gazing out onto the horizon. My eyes trailed out over the ocean, which glittered like diamonds, reflecting the shimmering light of the sun. The sun peaked out over the clouds, creating ribbons of yellow and orange that traced the sky, casting a gleaming light on the newborn day. At that moment, I wished that I had my paints, while the picture was still fresh in my mind.<p>

I heard a door creak open and I turned my torso so I was looking down the hallway. Scott exited his bedroom, yawning and scratching his head. He noticed me sitting there and smiled. He came over and joined me, sitting on the other side of the window frame. It was pretty big, so there was a good three feet separating us.

"So, your being pretty cryptic as you stare out the window. What are you looking at?" Scott asked, yawning again.

"I'm watching this." I said, nodding my head towards the orange rays, blossoming over the horizon.

Scott turned his head, following my gaze out the window. "Wow.", he said gasping.

"Kind of makes you think about what the future will bring today, the beginning." I said. Scott turned to me, almost looking confused. I recited the poem I read the other day, by E.E. Raleigh.

"_Sweetly slanting tones bend through, each resplendent drop of dew,  
>peering through them life does too, assume a sweeter slant.<em>

_Vicars of the feathered form, preach the news, "a Sun is born!",  
>I've a savior in this morn, oh stump you cherished pew.<em>

_Petalled nymphs float fragrant charms, silent Sirens wafting bars,  
>waves of scent which sail one far, from problems they have known.<em>

_Paintings whisper on the brook, envies of an artist's look,  
>steal my heart you precious crook, immerse it in pure joy"<em>

"Hmm..." Scott said, "Sophie, it seems like when you talk to me, you're making me look at things in a different way than I normally do; as if everything's a work of art."

I shrugged, and brought up a question. "What are you doing up so early. Normally I'm the only one up around this time."

"I have to get my car's oil changed, but the mechanic said he could only check it out at eight." he said. My watched beeped, telling me that it was time to get ready for my training session in an hour. I stood up, and turned back to Scott.

"I have to go get ready for my training session inn an hour. Catch you later?" I asked.

He nodded, standing up as well. "Good luck."

I gave him a quick wave and took off running. I stopped in the laundry room to pick up my battle-suit (which I had thrown in the wash this morning to get rid of the blood stains) and quickly made my way down to my bedroom. After running a comb through my hair, brushing my teeth, and throwing on the battle-suit, I made my way down to the kitchen for breakfast (without getting lost this time!)

As I made my way into the kitchen, I noticed Logan leaning against the counter, sipping coffee. I greeted him with a "Good morning." and he replied with a grunt, which I perceived as a reply. I threw two pieces of bread in the toaster and grabbed a banana. As I stood waiting by the toaster, eating my banana, I heard another grunt. I turned to Logan, and he spoke, without turning to face me.

"Hey kid." he said in a low, raspy voice, "You have battle-training today?"

I swallowed my bite of banana and replied with a vague "Uh huh"

He looked down at his watch and put down his empty coffee cup. After standing up, Logan approached the door leading to the hallway that connected with the entrance room, but before he left, he told me something that made me anxious.

"Meet Storm and I out on the training grounds in fifteen."

He walked out into the hallway and I froze. The ding of the toaster woke me from my trance and I grabbed the toast. After eating quickly and chugging down a glass of milk, I put my dishes in the sink and made my way out onto the battle grounds.

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><p>I stopped in the middle of the green, empty field. A part of me was telling myself that they were going to try to surprise me. I calmed myself and shut my eyes, connecting with the Earth. I felt the grass rustling in the faint breeze, the trees whisper a soft <em>swoosh, <em>and then… a jolt in the grass. Someone was running.

I twisted around and faced my attacker. Wolverine was charging at me, claws extracted, and a determined look on his face. I threw my arms up, a vine coiling around his leg in mid-step. It slowed his pace a bit, but broke. He continued to run at me. I tried again, this time it tripped him. As the vine continued to wrap itself around his torso, I felt an unnatural change in the breeze. I turned to see Storm, levitating about fifteen feet above the ground, eyes glowing and arms outstretched. As she brought her arms in front of her, the wind picked up even more. I put my arms in front of me in a protective stance as the wind pushed me across the ground slowly. I planted myself firmly on the ground and sent a strong vine up towards her. It coiled around her ankle, however just when I was about to pull her down, someone pushed me from behind. The wind stopped and pushed myself up so I was leaning on my elbows. I looked up. Wolverine, who was holding the vines that at one point constrained him in one arm, looked down upon me. He knelt down beside me and said,

"Never turn your back upon an opponent." I grinned at him.

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><p><strong>Remember guys: Review, Review, Review! I love this story, but I want to know whether or not you do.<br>**


	8. Rockwell High

**Sorry guys. The chapter most of you already read was a chapter from my other story. I guess I posted the wrong document. Whoops. So here's the REAL chapter.  
><strong>

**So after reviewing the first chapter, I thought to myself, "Why was Sophie on the roof?" Instead of just ignoring that detail, here's what happened. Well, in flashback form anyway.**

**Note: Flashback starts later in the chapter.**

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><p>After about two hours of training, I walked back into the kitchen, aching and famished. It was around ten o'clock in the morning and everyone was gathered in the kitchen for breakfast. Scott got back from the mechanics and was sitting at the table, surrounded by the rest of the team. He noticed me come in and grinned at me.<p>

"How was the first session?" he asked.

I grabbed an apple from the bowl in the center of the table and sat down amongst them. "Fine, if I can walk again I'll be surprised though."

The table laughed as I took a bit into my apple. Evan asked me, "Are you up some basketball? Everyone was about to go out to play a quick game."

I swallowed and replied, "I guess I could play."

After they finished their breakfast and I finished my apple, we headed outside. Evan, Rogue, and I took on Scott, Jean, and Kitty, while Kurt was the ref. Evan was a pretty competitive player and he and Scott had a bit of a silent competition on who could make the most baskets. I offered no advantage, as I kept loosing track of the ball as Kurt kept teleporting right in front of where I was standing. We lost, and after Evan went through the various stages of anger, denial, and finally acceptance, I confronted him.

"Sorry for dragging us down Evan. I'm not the best ball player."

He smiled at me. "No prob, Soph. I probably made it seem like it was a big deal, but really I had fun. We should do it again some time."

"Are you kidding? I ran into Kurt so many times, we should've called fouls on referees."

Once the game was over and the team had a quick lunch, Kitty, Scott, Kurt, Rogue, Jean, and Evan decided to go to the mall. They offered to take me, but I declined. I needed to be alone. As soon as they left, I went into my room. I threw my hair into a bun, put on my blue tankini, and grabbed a towel. I headed down to the pool and put my towel onto the fence. I jumped right in.

I opened my eyes once I was under the icy cold water. Everything looked hazy and almost surreal, as if I was looking inside a fishbowl. I closed my eyes. At first, I embraced the darkness brought upon by my eyelids. Then, memories crept back into my mind. Memories, I'd been keeping to myself all of this time.

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><p>Rockwell High was my old high school. Thinking of it, I remembered navigating the halls every day, greeting old friends and rushing to class. Pep-Rallies, soccer games, chemistry club; they all seemed foreign to me now. Actually, that seemed more like a lifetime ago, before I got my powers.<p>

That day started like any other day. I had just come from sixth period Algebra and was making my way to Living Environment, my favorite class of the day. I entered the classroom, taking a seat at my assigned lab table. I put my textbook and binder on the corner of my desk and turned my attention to the object in the center of the table. A potted ivy plant sat at the center. I reached out and touched its pointed leaves, which curled and twisted on the vines, giving it a lush, full appearance. My lab partner Alison took her seat next to me. She was one of those rare hybrids of an extreme jock, but a giggling girly-girl. As Alison started giving me the play-by-play on last night's soccer game, Ms. Nelson gave us our assignment. All we were supposed to do was to take observations of the characteristics of the plant in front of us. I never anticipated it to go so horribly wrong.

My head broke through the surface of the water, gasping for air. The part of the memory I was dreading came rushing back into my mind.

As Alison and I got to work on our project, Danny, the boy who sat in front of me, had accidentally knocked my book off the desk as I was feeling the leaves for a texture description. As I bent over to pick it up, I forgot to take my hand off of the plant. Suddenly, I heard an ear-splitting scream, one which I had recognized as coming from my lab partner Alison. I picked up my head to see what the problem was and gasped. The plant, which my hand still remained on, was growing in size, the vines multiplying in length and leaves sprouting everywhere. As the evergreen vines carpeted over our desk, Alison, consumed in fear, fell off her chair and took me with her. There I sat, on the floor, rubbing my sore head, as I looked around. The ivy had stopped growing, but everyone in the room was staring at me with looks of fear and hatred. Alison slowly raised a finger at me and whispered, "Y-you." her voice shaking with terror.

I didn't stay long enough to find out what happened next. Grabbing all my books, I sprinted out of the classroom. Tears pushed at my eyes as I sprinted past hundreds of blue lockers, and busy classrooms. I exited at the west doorway and made my way to my car. Throwing my books onto the passenger seat, I thrust the key into the ignition, started the car, and a moment later pulled out of the school.

That ten minute drive back to my house was the longest drive I'd ever taken. I remember crying as I drove past the community center, the elementary school, and other neighborhood houses. I drove past pieces of my childhood that day. Taking swimming lessons at the community center, eating cookies with milk in first grade at the elementary school, trick-or-treating on Halloween night, dressed up as a fairy princess and pretending to fly; all seemed very distant to me now. While others would look back at these memories and laugh, they were now tainted to me. A symbol of what I had just lost.

I pulled into my driveway and sprinted into the house. My mom blocked the way to my room, curious as to what I was doing home from school three hours early. I told her everything. After words, I ran up the stairs, leaving my poor mother standing in the living room in shock. Making my way into my bedroom, I kicked off my shoes, and went to the place I always went when I needed to think; out my window, onto the porch roof.

I lay on my back, gazing at the clouds and feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. The swirled clouds painted onto the sky were enough to clear my head. I stayed there all day.

I still remember that day. It was both the best and the worst day of my life. That day, I left behind my innocent childhood and opened a whole new chapter. I met the X-Men that day.

It was the day that changed my life.

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><p><strong>How did you like it? Let me know.<br>**


	9. Done

_I can't do this_

_I can't do this_

_I can't do this_

The words pounded in my head the next morning. I was a freak; a genetic accident. Nobody wanted me to happen, so why should I even try?

I felt like I was reliving a nightmare as I ran from the school. I could still hear those girls' words in my head. The encounter made me want to throw up.

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><p>As I was walking to the C wing earlier that day for Biology, all I could think about was the human mind. So far that day, I had been tripped, mocked, made fun of, and somebody even threw a stapler at my head. Why did people act that way? Was because of fear of the unknown; or because of the need to feel power? Society was obviously against mutants, but what I couldn't figure out was why.<p>

But, as I was working this entire thing out in my head, I heard them.

"Hey, you the new Xavier kid?"

The voice was rough, yet feminine. I stopped walking; listening to the sounds of multiple pairs of feet pound against the sidewalk. Clutching my books closer to me, I responded, without turning around.

"Yeah, what's it to you." Definitely not how I normally operate, but I was not in the mood for games.

The girls formed a circle around me. Every single one of them was twice my size, and glared at me with nothing less but pure malice. One spoke up. "So, got any _special _talents you wanna throw at us?" The girls snickered. "Come on, throw some fire at me. Or can you shoot me with anything."

My eyes stayed glued to the ground. "I don't want any trouble. Just let me go to my class."

Somebody pushed me roughly to the ground. My books were kicked on the pavement and onto the damp grass. Still I refused to look at them. "Hey, I said throw something at me!" Somebody grabbed my hair and pulled my head up, so I was looking at my attacker dead in the eye. Her face was cold and vicious. "What? Don't think I could _take it_?" I was kicked, hard, in the side. It brought tears to my eyes.

My voice was choked up, but I refused to back down. "Leave me alone, please?" It came out like a whimper.

"Aw, is the little freak gonna cry now?" They laughed. She was right, I was pathetic. "Looks like we're gonna have to toughen you up."

They let go of my hair, and my head hung. I was bruised, battered, and on the verge of tears. But the threats kept coming.

The girl went to hit me. My hand stopped her.

"_Don't touch me."_

I was gripping her wrist hard. Impulsively, I moved to me feet and threw her on the ground. Then, the scene changed. The girl I threw down was begging for mercy, and her group was moved behind her.

"Please, don't hurt me. I'll do anything." She cried.

Pathetic. They were all pathetic. And so was I.

Slowly, I picked up my books, and walked away. Not towards the building, but to the parking lot. The walk turned into a run. That's why people hated us. They were afraid, pitiful creatures that ran off of their own self absorbed qualities. We were no better. I was a power crazed person with a short temper. If I had lost my cool, then everyone would've paid.

I was done. That was it. Done.


End file.
